NGPF Blog

Happy New Year! Continuing the "Best of 2018" theme, I wanted to share with you the blog posts that engaged readers the most in 2018. To measure engagement I focused on two factors. I looked for pages that attracted hundreds of visitors and had the highest average time spent per page. Time spent on the page was a good indication that educators/students read the blog post in its entirety and engaged in the mini-activity described in it. For those new to NGPF, several of the posts below are...

Answer: Bitcoin
Questions:
Bitcoin was once worth almost $20,000 and now it's hovering around $4,000. Any ideas on why the price has declined so much?
Do you know anyone who has invested in bitcoin?
Investors use the term "popping the bubble" in describing an asset that rises quickly and then drops sharply. Why do you think investors get so excited about certain assets like bitcoin while the bubble is inflating?
Here's the ready-to-go slides for this Question of...

Personal Finance
Could developing countries and M-Pesa teach the US how to address the issues of the unbanked and underbanked? (CNN Business)
PBS announces a new series on personal finance called "Talkin' Money Minutes" is looking for a sponsor. They will be 2-3 minutes in length and air between shows. (Business Insider)
Charles Schwab’s daughter discusses the huge financial gender gap that goes way beyond the pay gap, and what can be done to help correct it. (MarketWatch)
Think...

Financial Literacy
A survey by Ipsos on behalf of MNT, Ltd reveals that apparently, Canadians need help with financial literacy education as well.
The Visual Capitalist depicts the US problem with financial literacy in pictures.
Economics/Cryptocurrency
250,000 jobs added this month, unemployment at 3.7%, and wages starting to increase (NYT), so what’s the problem? The Opportunity Index answers that question, and Third Way breaks it down for you. It may be worth the half hour it will...

Questions:
In your own words, what is bitcoin?
Find a chart showing bitcoin prices over the past 12 months? When do you think investors thought bitcoin was "a sure thing?"
Is bitcoin a physical currency, as the last cartoon indicates?
Where is bitcoin accepted today? Have you been to a store that accepts it?
Spend 5 minutes researching articles about "tulips and 1636." What does this have to do with bitcoin?
...

The NGPF Blog provides educators with two posts daily during the school year, including an engaging question of the day. Teachers rely on the daily Question of the Day as a great conversation starter and appreciate that it engages all students since it requires no prior knowledge. In addition, the blog provides a great way to note trends in personal finance, highlight high quality resources and share ideas from our teacher community. With the school year ended, we wanted to highlight the most...

FinTech Apps and Micro-Investing
According to Warren Buffet, for the average investor, it’s all about low fees. Would he support these low cost apps as a way to get average investors into the market.
Here is another in-depth look at how micro-investing works, in both rising and falling markets.
Here are two articles from Money Magazine about getting started in investing using investment apps.
Blackrock, which manages $6 trillion in assets, is moving into the micro/app space with an...

Raise your hand if you've got a nagging feeling "I should really be talking about Bitcoin in class" but a sinking feeling, "I'm not sure I'm an expert on the topic." For your convenience, here's everything NGPF's got on Bitcoin, all in one handy blog post:
Is Bitcoin a Bust? [Lesson]
This lesson was created by two teacher members of our NGPF community, Amanda Volz (St. Clair High School, St. Clair, MI) and Brian Page (Reading Community High School, Reading, OH). It's got all the...

State legislatures seem to be taking up the issue of financial education en masse as bills are being proposed in several states, hopeful signs, yes, but we know that it's when it becomes a law that it matters.
Kentucky State Treasurer Thinks Personal Finance Should Be Graduation Requirement (Courier Journal) as a bill moves through the legislature there:
I believe students across our commonwealth need access to financial literacy lessons like Luci has had. That is why I am supporting HB...

What happened to the 15 months of placid, upward sloping trend lines for all major stock indices that we had grown so accustomed to? Find out what changed with the markets and more in Beth's most excellent curated reads below.
--------------------------
The Market (are we talking about anything else this week?)
Did anyone else get whiplash (or perhaps motion sickness) from the roller coaster ride the stock market took this week? Here are several articles that help put is in...

Thanks to Brian Page and Amanda Volz for this blog post and for sharing this great lesson to engage your students in this craze called bitcoin. Here's a link to a bitcoin primer that we wrote last summer (eons ago in cryptocurrency time). As of February 6th, bitcoin trades at $7615.27.
------------------
Every investor wants to be “in early” and find that diamond in the rough. Every investor wants to make a lot of money. Every investor wants to make a lot of money fast!...

Happy New Year from the NGPF team!
With the new year upon us, it must be time for the Top 10 NGPF Blog posts for 2017. The NGPF Blog not only provides a daily Question of the Day for the entire school year but also gives you a weekly reading list to keep abreast of trends in personal finance and activity ideas based on current events. These are just a few examples of the smorgasbord available for the information hungry personal finance educator on the NGPF Blog. Subscribe by going to the blog...

Thanks to Beth Tallman for curating such a great set of informative articles. Enjoy!
Bitcoin crossed $16,000 (that's over 50% in less than a week); when will the bubble burst. WSJ still trying to figure out what's behind the meteoric rise (as am I). What's a Cryptokitty, anyway?
Even for bitcoin, which is notoriously volatile, the upward lurch was jarring, astounding outsiders and thrilling those who have piled into the digital currency in recent weeks. The rally has been sparked by the...

I am going to try (note the word "try") to make this a regular weekly feature of the blog. The goal: a curated list of articles for your weekend reading that will pique your interest, increase your content knowledge and keep you abreast of trends in personal finance. Thanks to Beth Tallman for generating this first list!
Interactive
Interactive chart that from St. Louis Federal Reserve showing subprime population at county level. Great discussion starter about economic trends in your local...

Headlines on MarketWatch this evening:
-----------------
What are the signs I see?
Meteoric increase in value without a great explanation for what's driving it
Crazy predictions: I remember Dow 40,000 predictions at the peak of insanity around 2000. Well, now we have Bitcoin 40,000!
Sober and experienced market observers saying "stay away."
Mushrooming number of funds to invest in the asset class of cryptocurrencies (which may actually keep the bubble inflating as they bid up the assets)...

Sending form...

One more thing!

Before your subscription to our newsletter is active, you need to confirm your email
address by clicking the link in the email we just sent you. It may take a couple
minutes to arrive, and we suggest checking your spam folders just in case!

Teacher Account Log In

Thank you for registering for an NGPF Teacher Account!

Your new account will provide you with access to NGPF Assessments and Answer Keys. It may
take up to
1 business day for your Teacher Account to be activated; we will notify you once the
process is
complete.

Thanks for joining our community!

The NGPF Team

Want a daily question of the day?

Subscribe to our blog and have one delivered to your inbox each morning!

Create a
Username & Password

Welcome!

You are now part of the #FinHero movement!

Use the Nav Bar to find courses, teaching resources, our blog, and more!

If you’re looking for ALL we offer on a specific topic, check out our unit pages.

First visit to our site? Check out of Questions of the Day under the Resources tab!

Need help navigating the site? Find us online for a live chat in the bottom right of your screen! If not, head to the Help Center and we will get back to you ASAP.

This site uses cookies to deliver our services, to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience. By continuing to use our site, you acknowledge that you have read, understand, and accept our
Privacy Policy and Terms of Service. Your use of our website is subject to these policies and terms.